Al stood back and watched Dash's prank. Although they had different styles they had some good fun together.
Circe goes over to the door when she hears the knock. "Hello? Who's there?"
If no answer, she cautiously opens the door, standing off to the side a bit just in case anything tries to rush directly into the room. When Dash pops out Circe let out a rather loud scream and casts Slumber on the individual in front of her.
Dash feels the force of Circe's hex as a touch of lethargy, but shakes it off. "Hahah. Sorry, Circe, couldn't help myself. Though I guess I'm just glad you didn't pull a knife. We gathered up Hemmick. He's got more weirdness to add to the mix. Anything happen while we were gone? How'd Aky's divination go?"
Circe is quite obviously mad at Dash right now. "That was so not funny Dash. What if I hesitate the next time because I worry you might be playing another prank and get killed instead?! Just for that I will make sure to have a knife next time.
Arms crossed, Circe goes back to Al's bed and sits on it cross-legged while pouting.
"Actually, come to think of it, I might be less threatened by the knife. Your magic has gotten pretty strong there, Circe," Dash says, with what he thinks is his most charming grin.
Al was slightly irritated from the whole situation. Disappearing corpses, his friends getting cryptic messages and also getting attacked. And why was Circe always sitting on his bed? That was the most disturbing thing. She was sitting there when he first came into the room and she went right back to it just now. He tried to show that it did not bother him by going over and sitting down next to her. That will teach her.
"You really should have seen that one coming. Sometimes you are just too tempting of a mark." he teased her as he sat down.
After that he tried to get the topic of conversation back to the matter at hand.
"I think the real question is what are we going to do now? Do we just hole up and wait for morning or should we go out and try to find more clues as to what is happening right now? Is there someone we should go and talk to? It might be best to just get out there and do something rather than sitting around."
While he waited for any response to his questions, he picked up his own magical tablet and looked for any messages that he might have gotten lately. He wiped a slight layer of dust off of the cover when he thought that Circe wasn't watching.
Hemlock comes in after Dash and with a "Hi all." finds the nearest seat and sits down trying to appear as invisible as possible without magic.
He pulls his satchel to his lap and retrieving his journal begins writing his events and listening to clues from the rest of them as to what happened.
"So you guys were attacked? By who? or what? Did they leave anything behind?, he peppers the group with questions every now and again and writes down their answers.
As to Alabaster's questions,"Well the guards down by the morgue think I'm an ass for drawing them away from their post..." Lets his mind wander for a second as he chases down a stray thought,"But I don't think they'd be any help. Having to put aside their card game would be a HUGE inconvenience for them."
"Well IF we go, we best be prepared, whatever cut through the ropes I tied that dead girl down with had sharp claws, not a dagger or a blade, claws. Just for everyones edification."
Trying to ignore how her heart just fluttered when Al sat beside her, Circe tries to offer Hemlock some comfort. "Don't worry too much about the guards Hemmlock. I'm sure they think all students are asses."
Cicre watches as Al wipes off his blank as he checks it. "Oh drat, I left my blank in my room. Not that it said anything else, but I suppose I should keep checking it just in case. No one else's blank has any messages do they?"
"If we want to go looking for clues in the morgue, now would be the best time to go before any of the daytime classes get down there. Not that I really want to poke around down there in the middle of the night."
Perception
You notice AKY has a new knife on his person. You only got a glance at your attackers knife, but it looks very similar...you think. Again, you didnt get a good look, but the blade is rather distinct.
Al thought about flexing his own claws in response to Hemlock's statement but did not want to cause confusion. Hopefully, he was not being framed. "Well, we should go down to the morgue." He directed his next question at Aky, "Who do you think we should talk to among the faculty? Is there any in particular you would trust?"
Trying to ignore how her heart just fluttered when Al sat beside her, Circe tries to offer Hemlock some comfort. "Don't worry too much about the guards Hemmlock. I'm sure they think all students are asses."
Cicre watches as Al wipes off his blank as he checks it. "Oh drat, I left my blank in my room. Not that it said anything else, but I suppose I should keep checking it just in case. No one else's blank has any messages do they?"
"If we want to go looking for clues in the morgue, now would be the best time to go before any of the daytime classes get down there. Not that I really want to poke around down there in the middle of the night."
Avoiding eye contact, Hemlock agrees with Circe, "I do get the impression they feel like babysitters at time. Somewhat odd considering we are here dabbling inthe mystic forces of existence."
Looking at his blank,"No it seems to be fine."
"Nothing to worry about in the morgue, just a few cadavers and some stuffed creatures in the alcove outside it. Really though I wonder how that girl got there in the first place. I was more interested in the body but I wonder if we went back and checked out that area in the hall of wonders if we might find something else about the girl and maybe where she came from. While it's possible she just appeared there, I'd find it hard to believe given her state. She didn't look like a master teleporter."
Trying to ignore how her heart just fluttered when Al sat beside her, Circe tries to offer Hemlock some comfort. "Don't worry too much about the guards Hemmlock. I'm sure they think all students are asses."
Cicre watches as Al wipes off his blank as he checks it. "Oh drat, I left my blank in my room. Not that it said anything else, but I suppose I should keep checking it just in case. No one else's blank has any messages do they?"
"If we want to go looking for clues in the morgue, now would be the best time to go before any of the daytime classes get down there. Not that I really want to poke around down there in the middle of the night."
Avoiding eye contact, Hemlock agrees with Circe, "I do get the impression they feel like babysitters at time. Somewhat odd considering we are here dabbling inthe mystic forces of existence."
Looking at his blank,"No it seems to be fine."
"Nothing to worry about in the morgue, just a few cadavers and some stuffed creatures in the alcove outside it. Really though I wonder how that girl got there in the first place. I was more interested in the body but I wonder if we went back and checked out that area in the hall of wonders if we might find something else about the girl and maybe where she came from. While it's possible she just appeared there, I'd find it hard to believe given her state. She didn't look like a master teleporter."
Dash spots the knife on Aky's belt and asks him "Hey Aky, that knife you've got looks a lot like the one my attacker was wielding. I mean, we were already assuming that our assailants were related, but that seems to come pretty close to confirming it. Have you examined that at all? Is it enchanted?"
After Circe suggests examining the morgue, Dash's nose wrinkles a bit. "I get what your saying, but that could be a bit problematic. I mean, those guards clearly weren't fond of Hemmick, and Al and I were already seen there with him. It would probably look suspicious if we went back, especially this late. We might have to sneak in. As for faculty we can trust, why not go to Gannis? I mean, the guy is a wicked powerful diviner, which means that he ought to know something about what's going on. And if we can't trust him, we've probably already lost."
"Why should we have to sneak at all? As students, aren't we allowed down there? As far as the guards know, nothing wrong is going on, so why would they be suspicious? As for Gannis, do you think he's capable of sending that message to my blank and should we go straight to him now? What about the other instructors here, can any of you think of ones who might also be powerful enough to do that to my blank?"
Circe gives a loud sigh as she get up to start pacing about the room again. "I just want to go and do something. There's no way I'd be able to go to sleep right now."
Non-Magical, but masterwork.
The handle and hilt have a dragon theme.
Knowledge local and/or history for anyone who looks closely at the knife.
Regarding who might be able to send messages through the blanks Knowledge Arcana and/or spell craft checks please.
Aky will check over the knife, but isn't able to tell much about. He does however examine it for magic
"I doubt it would have been Gannis that sent the warning. Maybe Polgara however? That his assistant right? I'm not sure which instructors we can trust, but I would start with the ones we already know. Though I have no idea how to test their trustworthiness."
He pauses to think about who else might be able to send that warning message.
Dash spots the knife on Aky's belt and asks him "Hey Aky, that knife you've got looks a lot like the one my attacker was wielding. I mean, we were already assuming that our assailants were related, but that seems to come pretty close to confirming it. Have you examined that at all? Is it enchanted?"
After Circe suggests examining the morgue, Dash's nose wrinkles a bit. "I get what your saying, but that could be a bit problematic. I mean, those guards clearly weren't fond of Hemmick, and Al and I were already seen there with him. It would probably look suspicious if we went back, especially this late. We might have to sneak in. As for faculty we can trust, why not go to Gannis? I mean, the guy is a wicked powerful diviner, which means that he ought to know something about what's going on. And if we can't trust him, we've probably already lost."
"They didn't give a damn about my problem before, I doubt they will give a damn about us going back and investigating the area."Hemlock keeps writing but pipes in at Gannis' name "If he is a diviner wouldn't he be able to track that knife back to its owner?"
"Dang! I should have made up one of these after I tied her down!" Hemlock heads over to a desk that he has somewhat claimed by dint of setting alembics and alchemical ingredients all over it. He pulls out a bottle and begins mixing up some ingredients.
"Uhm, Hemlock, that is a very good point. The reverse of which is the owner of the knife might be able to track us if we retain possession of it. Aky, any chance you can divine if it's a good idea or a bad idea to keep the knife?"
The young man chuckles "Sadly, not until tomorrow. The ability takes a lot out of me, and thus I can currently only use it once per day."
Dash walks over to examine Aky's knife. "Hey Aky, let me see that thing, once you're done testing it."
Dash starts idly spinning and flipping the knife in his hands as he examines the motifs. "You know, talking to Polgara isn't a bad idea. I've met her, she seemed pretty sincere. If nothing else, I get the feeling that she is loyal to Gannis, so she might be the next best thing to meeting the man himself. As for who could send that message, we might try to figure out who specializes in the same school of magic."
Al leaned back on his hand while on his bed. He gave off an air of ease and confidence. "Well, we should not bother any instructors until morning. When Hemlock is ready, we can go to the morgue or anywhere else we might find evidence of what is going on."
Hemlock soon has a pale liquid heating in a small tin, and pulling a small amount of dirt from one of the various compartments he carried, drops the dirt into the mixture which swirls slightly producing a smell like fresh soil. He pours the mixture into a tiny vial and stoppers it,"Done!"
Blowing out the flame and throwing everything back in the satchel, "Ok. I'm ready.
"Never thought of that Circe." he says, drifting off in thought.
Circe gives a little sigh. "I wish I would've prepared a better selection of spells this morning, but I had no idea I would end up skulking about looking for clues left by mysterious attackers."
Rae flits about Circe's head as they begin their trek to the morgue.
Blanks are not themselves terrible special. They're basically conduits for whatever magic is being used in the library. Might be an ongoing spell or could be an item. Hard to be sure. You've never looked into it in detail.
Aky will check over the knife, but isn't able to tell much about. He does however examine it for magic
"I doubt it would have been Gannis that sent the warning. Maybe Polgara however? That his assistant right? I'm not sure which instructors we can trust, but I would start with the ones we already know. Though I have no idea how to test their trustworthiness."
He pauses to think about who else might be able to send that warning message.
Good roll.
Blanks are not themselves terrible special. They're basically conduits for whatever magic is being used in the library. Might be an ongoing spell or could be an item. Hard to be sure. The specifics are somewhat on a need to know basis. It's possible that someone at the Library sent the message, but that strikes you as improbable simply for the fact of how well the books/knowledge is guarded magically and otherwise. It's possible that someone has a unique spell they cast to "tap into" the conduit between the library and Circe's blank. If that's the case case they could be anyone and have cast the spell anywhere. Then again perhaps it was simply an illusion cast at the moment that temporarily covered the Illusion of the Blank.
Dash spots the knife on Aky's belt and asks him "Hey Aky, that knife you've got looks a lot like the one my attacker was wielding. I mean, we were already assuming that our assailants were related, but that seems to come pretty close to confirming it. Have you examined that at all? Is it enchanted?"
After Circe suggests examining the morgue, Dash's nose wrinkles a bit. "I get what your saying, but that could be a bit problematic. I mean, those guards clearly weren't fond of Hemmick, and Al and I were already seen there with him. It would probably look suspicious if we went back, especially this late. We might have to sneak in. As for faculty we can trust, why not go to Gannis? I mean, the guy is a wicked powerful diviner, which means that he ought to know something about what's going on. And if we can't trust him, we've probably already lost."
"They didn't give a damn about my problem before, I doubt they will give a damn about us going back and investigating the area."Hemlock keeps writing but pipes in at Gannis' name "If he is a diviner wouldn't he be able to track that knife back to its owner?"
"Dang! I should have made up one of these after I tied her down!" Hemlock heads over to a desk that he has somewhat claimed by dint of setting alembics and alchemical ingredients all over it. He pulls out a bottle and begins mixing up some ingredients.
Divinatin is tricky. Information is not always reliable and can be fooled by those knowledgable.
There are a number of spells that can look into the history of an item which could give clues to the nature of the owner. Additionally, there are a few tracking spells that will allow you to trace back to the owner. These spells typically require a strong psychic connection. Either a cherished item or a body part. The latter being far more useful.
Dash walks over to examine Aky's knife. "Hey Aky, let me see that thing, once you're done testing it."
1d20 + 6
Dash starts idly spinning and flipping the knife in his hands as he examines the motifs. "You know, talking to Polgara isn't a bad idea. I've met her, she seemed pretty sincere. If nothing else, I get the feeling that she is loyal to Gannis, so she might be the next best thing to meeting the man himself. As for who could send that message, we might try to figure out who specializes in the same school of magic."
1d20 + 6
1) Gannis and the other higher ups, including Polgara, are aloof. Presumably they are dealing with Marco problems and deligating the micro. You can try to get an audience, but you don't think it will be easy.
2) The dagger is stylized to resembles an old practice called the "Mark of the Dragon fang." Basically in less enlightened parts of the world people fear magic as evil witchcraft and what not. When somone wants to accuse another publically of being a witch (aka evil), but not expose themselves to the witche's ire, they will put the draw the dragon's fang on the door of the accused. That way everyone knows that they're an evil witch while simultaneously protect themselves. More often than not the "witch" was some poor sod that the accuser had a grudge against. The practice continues in less developed parts of the world.
Blanks are not themselves terrible special. They're basically conduits for whatever magic is being used in the library. Might be an ongoing spell or could be an item. Hard to be sure. You've never looked into it in detail.
Al keeps an eye out when they head out into the streets. Making sure that Circe is right behind him, he leads the way to the morgue.
As we head that way Hemlock will ask,"So is anyone working on something WORTH being killed over? Or Have any clue WHY someone would want to attack them?"
Following close behind Al, Circe shakes her head. "I've just been doing research and catalog work on the denizens of other planes. Nothing really exciting and definitely not worth killing someone over. Dash, have you been sneaking into places you shouldn't again?"
After saying his bit about Gannis, Dash gets somewhat lost in examining the knife, still spinning it around his hands flashily. As Circe mentions his name he perks up again. "Hey, I resent that! I mean, of course I've been sneaking around somewhat, but nothing important." Dash looks a bit embarrassed, and if anyone could see him in these lighting conditions, they'd notice a bit of color coming to his unusually pale cheeks.
"However, I do have one idea. This knife motif is used in some places to mark a witch. They call it the 'Mark of the Dragon's Fang,' and some people will scrawl it on someone's door to indicate that a witch lives there. Usually this only happens in backwards, superstitious communities, but could be that we have some witch-hunters in town. In fact, I'm almost certain that the guy I fought had the same type of knife, because this shape is pretty weird. Well balanced though. Hey, Aky, you mind if I hang on to this?"
Pursing his lips in contemplation,"Doesn't sounds like anyone is doing anything to upset someone, can't imagine that my tinkering with bits and pieces in the morgue is causing problems. I've been doing it on and off since I have been here with no complaints from Hanabil or any of the others masters."
Shrugging, "Just seems like something is missing in all this."
Hemlock runs a hand along a wall and finding an odd bit of something or other, stops and plucks it out, examines it and then puts it in a small pouch along his belt.
After saying his bit about Gannis, Dash gets somewhat lost in examining the knife, still spinning it around his hands flashily. As Circe mentions his name he perks up again. "Hey, I resent that! I mean, of course I've been sneaking around somewhat, but nothing important." Dash looks a bit embarrassed, and if anyone could see him in these lighting conditions, they'd notice a bit of color coming to his unusually pale cheeks.
"However, I do have one idea. This knife motif is used in some places to mark a witch. They call it the 'Mark of the Dragon's Fang,' and some people will scrawl it on someone's door to indicate that a witch lives there. Usually this only happens in backwards, superstitious communities, but could be that we have some witch-hunters in town. In fact, I'm almost certain that the guy I fought had the same type of knife, because this shape is pretty weird. Well balanced though. Hey, Aky, you mind if I hang on to this?"
It's a masterwork dagger.
"Most of the students in this school can do some magic or another and I am not the only witch here. I don't yet see why we would be singled out."
Before leaving, Aky will fill the group in with what he knows abotu the blanks the muses "Its possible this is some sort of witch-hunter attack. What I worry about is the message Circe got being sent from our enemies, instead of an ally."
He then flips over a card from his Harrow deck
It's quite late. The sun is long down. There are a few people out this late, but mostly they just nod a polite hello and go about their business. You all make it to the morgue without a problem.
Hemmick no doubt shows you the way. Past the front door is a medium sized waiting room with a desk in front of a large door. Past that door leads to the Morgue proper.
I need a marching order and what do you do now?
Explosive runes!
Just kidding. ;-)
"But wouldn't I have been attacked if I took the way home they told me? Or are they trying to confuse us and make us paranoid?"
"Okay Hemlock, where exactly did you find the body? That would probably be a good place to start."
As they walk to the morgue, Aky replies to Circe "That's what I'm afraid of, them trying to make us paranoid. Back where I'm from, we generally treat outsiders warmly, yes, but also warily. Family, followed by clan, is most important."
On hearing Circe's question, he'll point over towards the Alcove of Wonders.
"Over there, by the stuffed dire rats, in my modest Hall of Wonders. I heard scratching noises and when I came over to investigate, the girl was lying there, all in tatter. She didn't move when I talked to her, so I nudged her. She still didnt move so I picked her up and brought her to this slab where it was pretty easy to determine she was dead. She had been completely exsanguinated."
As he enters the morgue, the sorcerer opens his eyes to mystickal energies, and looks around for any clues
Circe goes over to where Hemlock indicated he found the body and gets down on her knees as she carefully examines the ground. Casting detect magic as she scans the area for any sign of blood and magic. "Do you have any idea how long the body had been dead when you found her? I'm just wondering if she was placed here just for you to find or if you may have interrupted the killer in progress and he only had time to hide himself and not the corpse as well."
As they walk to the morgue, Aky replies to Circe "That's what I'm afraid of, them trying to make us paranoid. Back where I'm from, we generally treat outsiders warmly, yes, but also warily. Family, followed by clan, is most important."
It's been just over an hour.
On hearing Circe's question, he'll point over towards the Alcove of Wonders.
"Over there, by the stuffed dire rats, in my modest Hall of Wonders. I heard scratching noises and when I came over to investigate, the girl was lying there, all in tatter. She didn't move when I talked to her, so I nudged her. She still didnt move so I picked her up and brought her to this slab where it was pretty easy to determine she was dead. She had been completely exsanguinated."
As he enters the morgue, the sorcerer opens his eyes to mystickal energies, and looks around for any clues